North Dakota
19th Century art depicting Native Americans goes on display in North Dakota
Art from the 19th Century depicting Native American life was put on display in North Dakota on Wednesday.
The State Historical Society of North Dakota bought 26 aquatints made by Swiss-born artist Karl Bodmer during his journey from 1832 to 1834 across the U.S., as far west as present-day Montana, and presented four of them on Wednesday.
The prints, stored at a San Francisco arthouse for some time, were reproduced from 1839 to 1843 from Bodmer’s works during his journey with Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied.
State Historical Society spokeswoman Kara Haff said that the group is reviewing the iamges and will make a plan to exhibit them. The aquatints are presumed to be from an original Bodmer collection.
AP Photo/Jack Dura
What Do the Images Depict?
Haff said the aquatints show different scenes and people from America in the 19th century, including Fort Union, a Mandan village, an Arikara warrior, Mandan chief Mato Tope or Four Bears, the funeral scaffold of a Sioux chief, Mandan dog sledges, bison hunting, a scalp dance and travelers along the Missouri River.
Dakota Goodhouse, a Native American historian and enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said that while Bodmer’s images are beautiful and an important part of the history of the American West, some of his pieces are posed and set up, which can spread misinformation about the daily life of Native American peoples.
“When Four Bears got all dressed up for Bodmer’s portrait, it’s not like he went about his everyday life completely dressed up,” Goodhouse said.
AP Photo/Jack Dura
What Are Aquatints?
Aquatints were common in Bodmer’s era and often used to illustrate books, said David Borlaug, an owner of Masters Gallery in Bismarck, which facilitated the acquisition.
Haff said that Bodmer’s images were created for a book by Maximilian, titled, Travels in the Interior of North America.
Borlaug explained the creation process of aquatints: “An original painting would then be converted to metal, copper or steel, by an engraver, which is an art form all of its own, in reverse, and then they would pull a print, if you will, off that plate, usually with just one or two colors. Then the next set of artisans would come in, watercolor artists who would hand-tint, add all the colors to each image, one by one by one.”
While Bodmer’s images are printed in textbooks, it is rare to own prints made during the initial publishing, Haff said.
Images ‘Preserves’ Native American Life
Several years after Bodmer’s journey, the tribes along the Upper Missouri River he portrayed in his images were nearly destroyed by a smallpox epidemic in 1837.
Amy Mossett—a member of the State Historical Board and education administrator for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation’s Tribal Education—said that entire families died and there was no time for people to save or pass along material possessions.
“So much was lost, and so when I look at these images, it just kind of preserves … the images of our culture when it was still very active and still very much alive,” Mossett, a Mandan/Hidatsa member of the MHA Nation, said.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
GRAND FORKS — A North Dakota composer’s dream is turning into a statewide invitation.
Williston-based musician Emily Black-Driscoll was chosen as the North Dakota Music Teachers Association’s commissioned composer for 2026. She’s preparing an original composition that will premiere in August.
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North Dakota
Challengers declare victory after ND Supreme Court rules against Legislature’s attempt to alter term limits
BISMARCK — A constitutional ballot measure to amend the state’s term limits law as proposed by the Legislature will not appear on November’s ballot, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday, siding with petitioners who argued the Legislature exceeded its authority and violated the state constitution in proposing the changes.
“The people’s voice was heard,” Grand Forks County Commissioner Terry Bjerke said in reaction to the news.
Bjerke was a member of the sponsoring committee behind the successful 2022 effort to pass a term limits initiative, which amended the state constitution by capping legislative term limits to eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate. The amendment, which became article XV of the state constitution, also included a clause barring the Legislature from making constitutional changes to term limits.
During the 2025 session, however, lawmakers narrowly approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4008, in which the legislature proposed Constitutional Measure 1, a ballot measure to amend the term limits language to allow legislators to decide in which chamber they want to serve their 16 years, and to repeal the clause limiting the legislative assembly’s authority to propose an amendment to alter or repeal term limits.
Bjerke and former Minot legislator Oley Larsen brought the lawsuit challenging the validity of the Legislature’s action in January, and the state Supreme Court
heard oral arguments in the case
this spring.
“Those term limits may only be altered by a measure proposed by the people rather than the Legislative Assembly. And yet a few years later, the Legislative Assembly is doing what they are prohibited from doing,” attorney Zachary Wallen argued on Bjerke and Larsen’s behalf.
Tanner Ecker / The Bismarck Tribune
The Legislature’s attorneys argued the clause prohibiting legislative proposals to alter the constitutional term limits language “infringes on our republican form of government” by “limiting the people’s ability to vote on amendments proposed by their elected officials.”
Justice Jon Jensen seemed skeptical of that argument during the April 2 hearing, questioning whether a second vote was appropriate.
“The public did speak on this. The public spoke on it when it passed the original constitutional amendment and they said, ‘Legislature, you don’t even get to propose a change.’ They have already spoken on it,” Jensen said. “You want a second shot, or a second bite at the apple, not a first one, a second.”
In Thursday’s ruling, all five justices sided with Bjerke and Larsen.
“We … conclude the Legislative Assembly’s adoption of S.C.R. 4008 violated N.D. Const. art. XV … and declare S.C.R. 4008 and Constitutional Measure 1 void … We enjoin the Secretary of State from placing Constitutional Measure 1 on the November 2026 general election ballot,” the ruling said.
Bjerke thanked the legal team that worked on behalf of their lawsuit, and said he was grateful the court reached the conclusion it did.
“I’m thrilled that what the people voted on and approved has been validated,” Bjerke said.
He added that the Legislature had “multiple opportunities” to address term limits prior to 2022’s initiated measure and chose not to, and gave a nod to the country’s coming milestone and the process by which voters expressed their support for term limits.
“We’ve lasted 250 years,” Bjerke said. “I have two words for those elected leaders who think they aren’t: everyone’s replaceable.”
North Dakota
Fargo woman convicted in North Dakota fraud case now faces charges in Minnesota: A deeper dive
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A North Dakota woman who was sentenced to 180 days in jail in Cass County for defrauding healthcare providers and Medicaid programs is now facing additional fraud charges in Minnesota.
Christine Marie Pryor, 55, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to theft by deception involving more than $50,000. She was sentenced to first serve 180 days with a 3-year sentence suspended. She received credit for 44 days already served.
Pryor was ordered to pay $82,584.78 in restitution to Southeast Human Services in Fargo, where she worked between 2018 and 2019.
How the scheme unfolded
According to court documents, Pryor worked at multiple healthcare facilities in North Dakota and Minnesota between 2018 and 2023, using the identities and credentials of three licensed professionals without their knowledge. She submitted fraudulent Capella University diplomas and transcripts to gain employment.
Investigators say Pryor admitted she searched state licensing websites for therapists who shared her first name, then used those therapists’ last names and license numbers when applying for jobs.
At Southeast Human Services, where she worked as a Licensed Addiction Counselor, Pryor earned $55,584.82 while providing therapy services to approximately 150 patients. She also opened her own counseling center, NIAM Brain Injury Center, in Fargo between 2020 and 2021, and worked at The Lotus Center in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 2021 to 2023.
Court documents say the three licensed professionals whose identities were used told investigators they had no knowledge of Pryor’s actions and did not give her permission to use their information.
Two additional charges against Pryor in North Dakota, unauthorized use of personal identifying information, were dismissed on motion of the state.
Additional charges in Minnesota
Pryor is also facing charges in Minnesota. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Tuesday charges against Pryor in Clay County District Court for six theft offenses and six identity theft offenses related to defrauding Minnesota’s Medicaid program of more than $150,000.
According to the Minnesota complaint, Pryor claimed to provide psychotherapy and alcohol and drug counseling services to Medicaid recipients despite having no license or credentials to do so. Prosecutors allege she used the credentials and identities of three licensed professionals while claiming to provide Medicaid-funded services to 169 clients.
The Minnesota charges were filed as part of National Health Care Fraud Takedown Day, a joint effort involving the Department of Justice and more than 40 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
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